Latest science news, discoveries and scientific developments.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has revealed an ancient galaxy cluster with an unexpectedly dense concentration of dark matter, challenging theories about how the universe developed. The discovery also uncovered a surprising connection between scattered starlight and invisible dark matter that could transform how astronomers study the early cosmos.
Amanda Krause, a senior lecturer in psychology at James Cook University, said musical taste shapes social identity, personal expression and everyday behavior.
Emergency repairs and cleanup were underway Monday in California's wave-battered city of Long Beach, where several homes appeared on the brink of collapse and remained too dangerous to enter.
Scientists have discovered that the body's cellular recycling system behaves very differently during aging than previously believed, with higher activity sometimes linked to worse physical health. A small study suggests that even gentle exercise could help restore more youthful cellular recycling patterns in older adults.
As workplaces around the world wrestle with integrating artificial intelligence into their operations, researchers and rangers in the heart of West Arnhem are successfully embracing this technology in conservation without compromising respect and knowledge.
Losing your voice can feel like losing part of yourself. Can voice-cloning technology help people find themselves again?
For the first time, scientists managed to turn cloned male mouse embryos into females, giving life to healthy and fertile individuals
A 165-million-year-old fossil has revealed an extraordinary Jurassic predator that may help explain how mammals developed one of their most important evolutionary advantages. Although only 20 inches long, Megacauda sungei was a heavyweight among early mammal relatives, swimming through ancient waterways and hunting prey with specialized teeth. Its advanced swallowing anatomy reveals an early step toward the ability to safely nurse on milk, a key development in mammalian evolution.
Food security concerns, wildfires and power warnings are among the impacts around the world this week from an exceptionally strong El Niño weather cycle.
QUICK FACTSWhere is it? Yunlin County, Chianan Plain, Taiwan [23.78563273, 120.44373747]What's in the photo? A multicolored 'mosaic' of small, tightly compacted farmsWhich satellite took the photo? Landsat 9When was it taken? April 24, 2026This recent satellite snap shows off a multicolored "mosaic" of tightly packed mini farms covering part of Taiwan in the western Pacific Ocean. The sea of fields and shade nets demonstrates the scale of the agricultural challenges facing the densely populated island. Taiwan is 14,000 square miles (36,000 square kilometers) — about the same size as Maryland — but has a population around four times as large, with approximately 23 million people living there,...
Zavodovski, a volcanic island in Antarctica, is silently witnessing a shift in the local ecosystem. Known as home to the world's largest penguin colony, this island has long been under the watchful eye of scientists. One such study has now led to a bittersweet discovery.
Rains and flooding along Mexico's Pacific coast from Hurricane Simon and Tropical Storm Rachel have left five people dead, authorities said Monday.
Scientists have traced the development of a mouse embryo from its first two cells to the formation of organs, using a remarkable DNA recording system that reveals the family history of individual cells. Their findings uncover how different cell types emerge on their own schedules and could help explain what goes wrong in birth defects, genetic disorders, and cancer.
Indonesian authorities on the tourist island of Bali released 20 protected green sea turtles back into the ocean Tuesday after they were found and seized on an empty boat seemingly abandoned by wildlife smugglers fleeing a police raid.
Oxford physicists have recreated a bizarre quantum effect in which a particle responds to a magnetic field without ever traveling through it. Using a hybrid quantum computer, they demonstrated how introducing a simulated magnetic flux could completely halt a particle's movement through quantum interference. The experiment brings a decades-old prediction into a new setting where matter and quantum fields influence one another.
Your daily routine could have a bigger impact on your ability to handle stress than you realize. A Binghamton University study of approximately 400 college students found that eating breakfast regularly, exercising, sleeping well, and taking fish oil were associated with greater psychological flexibility, which helps people adapt to stressful situations. Poor sleep and unhealthy eating habits, meanwhile, were linked to lower flexibility and resilience.
Slavery has existed for thousands of years, permeating ancient and modern societies across the world. The Vikings were no different. Enslaved people were valuable commodities, being captured and then traded across the Vikings' vast networks. Legal texts and written sources show how enslaved people were sold at trading centers in the same vein as cattle. In this excerpt from "The Sea-King and the Sorceress: Life and Death in the Viking Age" (Basic Books, 2026), author and archaeologist Neil Price looks at the horrific lives of the "thralls" — the Viking term for the enslaved. In it, he highlights the inhumane treatment of enslaved people, from the raids to kidnap people into the slave trade t...
In the early medieval period, the Vikings were just one part of a vast tapestry of Scandinavians who ruled, sailed, traded and fought around the world, from North America to Asia. In his new book, "The Sea-King and the Sorceress: Life and Death in the Viking Age" (Basic Books, 2026), author Neil Price, professor and chair of archaeology at Uppsala University in Sweden, reveals the true diversity and complexity of people who lived during the Viking Age (often dating from A.D. 793 to 1066). Price investigates more than 20 burials from the Viking Age, lingering on details that can tell us about these individuals and their world. He also shines a light on frequently overlooked groups, including ...
Scientists have uncovered a hidden layer of organization in the brain by creating the first detailed 3D map of its lipids, the fatty molecules essential for brain structure and communication. By analyzing millions of measurements from mouse brains, researchers identified 539 distinct chemical zones, revealing patterns and boundaries that traditional brain maps have missed. Surprisingly, even white matter, once thought to be relatively uniform, contains a complex patchwork of chemically distinct regions.
Scientists have uncovered a surprising hidden ability of light that allows it to develop spinning, twisting behavior as it travels through empty space, without special lenses, mirrors, or materials. Researchers discovered that light’s internal geometry can naturally produce left- and right-handed patterns, challenging long-standing assumptions about how light behaves. By carefully arranging a beam’s structure, scientists can control where and how these spinning patterns emerge, unlocking a new way to manipulate light.